Pathak Booked in AAP Foreign Donation Case

CBI raids premises in national capital linked to former AAP legislator on MHA complaint on violations of FCRA norms

- Mukesh Ranjan @ New Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday conducted raids at premises linked to former AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak in connection with alleged violation of provisions of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) in receiving overseas funds after the agency registered an FIR in the matter based on the complaint by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), officials said.

In the FIR, accessed by the newspaper, the CBI also named AAP member Kapil Bhardwaj and alleged they received foreign funding in violation of the FCRA and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The MHA complaint alleged that AAP has received "foreign donations in contravention to the provisions of the FCRA" and there were several discrepancies in the money flow.

In its complaint, the MHA also mentioned several transactions amounting to nearly ₹5 crore, while also alleging a Canada link, where one Canadian citizen named Karnail Singh Sidhu directly donated ₹20,000 to the party through AAP's online portal in 2016.